Simeone exuberant at Atlético achievement

Diego Simeone, Atlético coachThere's a lot of joy at having got through a tie against great rivals who have a proud history. Now we are calm because we know this isn't the end, and we will try to recover as soon as possible because on Sunday we have another match.

The first 20 minutes were very good in terms of our attitude, intensity and play. Then Barça began to get into the game and had some opportunities, so things became trickier for us.

My players don't need words to motivate them – they need security, decisiveness and the ability to try and get the best out of them all. I admire these players. I admire their dedication and the way they work together as a team.

Adrian [López] was great in the first half – he almost scored and he linked up perfectly with Koke and David Villa. Aside from getting through the tie, I'm happy that Adrián is back to his best. I repeat: Adrian is a different player now and one that can give us alternatives.

Gerardo Martino, Barcelona coachResults happen for a reason. When Atlético were the better side, they scored their goal. We also had opportunities and just one goal from us would have changed the course of the game.

At certain points, we couldn't do the things [we wanted] because of how our opponents played. Atlético kept a lot of players near their penalty area – they did that very well and that made it hard for us to find any space.

This environment [the home fans at the Vicente Calderón] is difficult to find in Europe, but it's more common in Argentina. Barcelona's style is different to Atletico's approach. We played as we have done for the past ten years, with the formula that led to our success. Tonight, there were a big difference between the teams in the first 20 minutes; then we had our chances.

In the beginning, the game was as Atlético like it: long balls, rebounds to pick up. We weren't short of intensity, but we couldn't string together four or five passes. We expected to have more control and we failed to do that.

We're all sad because we had high expectations. Now we have to talk to the players and move on.We have to keep fighting in the two competitions that remain for us now: the league and the Copa del Rey.

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